Can I do without a double buggy???

[Pagan]

DD1 was in a Rocatot car seat until about 8 months for which we had the chassis, so life was easy. After that I got a cheapy Maclaren Volo which is great, light, manoeverable and easy to get up and down. However I am pregnant again so there will be 16 months between DD and the newborn.

I don't want to have to get a double buggy. I'm hoping that I can use a baby sling for the wee one with DD in the buggy and then when baby gets too heavy, go on to using the rocatot and chassis with a buggy board if required.

I also inherited a 2 in 1 which came with a buggy board but it has been confined to the garage since DD was 5 weeks old after a Basil Fawlty experience with it. It does come with a buggy board though.

Problem is that the second is due in January so the weather won't be so wonderful to carry the baby in a sling each day unless some wonderful manufacturer makes one fleecy lined with Goretex protection.

Just wondering what other MN's views are or how they coped?

Hmm. I have 19 mths between my two and was faced with a similar dilemma. I did use the sling for a little while (with a big coat which wrapped round me and the baby - slightly strange looking bump from the outside but kept both of us nice and cosy and I didn't have to struggle with putting her into any sort of outdoor suit) but mainly found it too much for my back. The baby's weight in itself wasn't too bad, it was just that in combination with lifting my toddler that was hard. Don't mean to be discouraging about it, that was just my experience.
I ended up getting a pram with a toddler seat attachment because I didn't fancy a tandem or double width pram. I did think about the buggy board, but wasn't sure that my toddler would be big enough to go on it and hold on securely at 19 months. In the end I started using the buggy board when my oldest was well over two.
Having said that, my youngest started using the buggy board fairly early, and was quite steady with it when she was about 20 months. Now they are 3.5 and 2 and they both swap on and off with the pram and the buggy board.
There is the excellent but pricey Phil & Ted's E3 pram which looks very good for the early stages when you have two quite close together, however, it doesn't take a buggy board.
It also partly depends on what sort of child your older one is - is she a good walker? My eldest is not, so we really need a wheeled possibility if we want to get anywhere.
Hope this all makes sense, and good luck.

I think it depends on how much walking you do! There's 20m between my two. DS1 wasn't a particularly good walker at that age so the double was totally necessary. I walk alot so him tagging along wasn't very practical also I thought he was a bit small for the buggy board. DS2 is one this week and we are still using the double buggy - mostly for longer trips but especially when I know DS1 needs a nap - but mostly he walks along next to the buggy and hops in when he's tired. They are a PITA though and mine (cheapish Graco one)is a bit knackered after a year. there are loads of threads on this topic - I'm not sure there's an ideal! Good luck

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18 months between mine and no chance of living without a double.

another vote for the double! the mclaren one i have is narrow enough to go through most shop doors and its not that heavy. It feels a bit strange and huge for a while but you would soon get used to it. I agonised for ages over how to get my lot about but think i made the right decision!!

15 months between mine, and I find the double buggy invaluable. The only child I found the sling suitable for was my dd, and she was petite at birth, and for the next two years. It would not have done for ds2 who was heavy, and certainly not for ds3 who was REALLY heavy for his age. Anyway, while using the sling, I always felt I had to have a hand free to support her, so I could not have pushed a buggy too. With my dd and ds2 I had a tandem buggy, now I have a Maclaren side by side, but am a TERRIBLE driver and find it really hard to negotiate shops with narrow aisles, so would recommend the tandem. Also they can't pull at one another so much in a tandem.

Another voite for the double. But I've got the Maclaren and love it. I find it really easy to use. I just couldn't get on with a tandem, found them really difficult. THe only time I find it difficult with the Maclaren is at Xmas time when shops fill every inch of availible floor space with boxes of gift wrap etc, I then get really pissed off after trying to negotiate my way down ilses and end up storming out of the shop in a huff!!!!!!

there is 23 months between my first two and then 2 years 4 months....i used a double buggy for them. It was so much easier than the buggy board when i was in a rush or it was raining. dd is nearly 3 and i still use it from time to time ie when i got to take them all on the train, or late for the school run! I have got a sling and thought i could use it and have dd in the buggy but ds2 outgrew the sling quickly and got very heavy, so i resorted to using the double buggy again....much easier. Just buy a 2nd hand double buggy if you arent sure. I promise you will use it at some point!!

Pagan I am a big fan of the sling/buggy board combo and have had great success with it. However, I have 2yrs then 22 months between my 3 so the toddler was a bit bigger than yours would be once they were out of the buggy, ie when baby was about 6-8months. Your toddler will be I guess not quite 2. Hmmm. As jennifer says, how good a walker is your DD? Also yes, how much walking do you do? I hate and detest double buggies as they take up so much room, but if you have a wide hallway I guess it's not a major problem. Also always think they look so awkward, butas others say, that's just my experience. You can certianly pick them up very cheap second hand (try yr local paper) which suggests to me that a lot of people try them and don't like them, or at ay rate don't use them for long! Zaphod if you felt you needed a free hand to support the baby in a sling (if I read yr post correclty) you could have done with a better sling perhaps? I had a Babybjorn and it was fantastic, baby snuggled up close and nice and cosy, so near I cd kiss the top of its head. I loaned it to my childminder who had tried several others and she said it was y far the best and most comfortable. So worth spending the £50 it costs rather than a cheapy £15 one. As regards wet weather, I had Juen and April babies! but still carried DS1 and DD in december; just sort of cocooned them in my coat as needed IIRC.

BTW I once walked along the street with DD (2) in the buggy, baby (2 months) in the sling and DS1 (4) on the buggy board! What a sight I must have been. That was DS1's last time on the board as I could hardly get up the road!!

Sounds like we will have the same gap, i'm expecting no3 in October when DD will be 16 months. I have sold my previous all terrain to justyify buying the E3 explorer. I always swore I wouldn't own a double and last time with 26 month gap managed with a buggy board but as DD 14 months can't yet walk have come to the conclusion that I have no alternative.

A 2 year gap, and so far we have been fine with ds in sling/dd in buggy, or ds in pram and dd walking/perching. BUT that was when the weather was nice. Walking to nursery in the rain the other day was not fun. (though dd did look so cute with her umbrellella. Cute and wet!

Clary you must have looked like earth mother personified .

Thanks for all the tips and advice. I'll have a right good think about it. DD not walking yet so I think my final decision will be dependent on her ability.

Once they are at school I'll have a garage sale of old buggies

LOL Pagan, that's just what a neighbour said!

I really recommend that you go for a double! My ds was over 2½ when my dd was born and I still used my double all the time. I had about a month without one (we were waiting for one to be delivered which kept being delayed and when it finally came it was too big to go in the car boot!) and so when we finally got one it was fantastic! I had been coping with a sling and pushchair and it was horrendous - I hardly left the house because of it.
When we got the double (Kingswood Buzz, £70 off ebay!) I used it every day despite it being too wide (by a frustrating 2cm) to fit in our front door or the doors at playgroup - I had to remove a wheel every time just to get in. But even so it was such a lovely ride for both of them and worth every awkward moment (that being said we did do a lot of walking).
I used the sling loads for ds but he was a summer baby and if it did rain it was no problem to use an umbrella. Dd was a February baby and I couldn't use an umbrella because I was pushing the buggy!
I didn't get rid of the double buggy until ds was over 3½ and now use a buggy board for long walks round the shops only.
Good luck with whichever way you go!!